More than 100 public safety officials swarmed the small town in west El Paso County about 12:30 p.m. after a train derailed in the 6700 block of Doniphan Drive. The brush fire was also reported about that time, but officials said the fire was not sparked by the derailment.

The BSNF train was carrying sugar and scrap metal. None of the three people on the train at the time of the derailment were injured.

El Paso Fire Department spokesman Deputy Chief Robert Arvizu said the fire spread rapidly due to high winds, but mostly affected dry brush in the area.

However, the fire was only a few feet a way from a shopping center where the El Gallito Ingles tire shop is located, and at least one business owner said some of those tires caught fire, creating the dense black smoke that was visible from Downtown El Paso.

"The wind kept fanning everything," said Martin Schulz, who owns the Pizza Time restaurant located in the same shopping center as El Gallito Ingles. "I don't know if the businesses caught fire, but the tires caught fire."

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Schulz said deputies with the El Paso County Sheriff's Office evacuated his and other businesses and kept pushing them further away from the scene as the fire grew. About two hours later, Schulz was waiting near the Outlet Shoppes of El Paso until he could go back to his business.

"I'm trying to be optimistic. I think we may have gotten lucky," said Schulz, who has owned Pizza Time for about four years. "We might have a sale on extra well done pizzas."

(Ruben R. Ramirez / El Paso Times)

Deputies, along with area El Paso County constables, police officers from Anthony and El Paso and state troopers remained in the area for hours as more than 100 firefighters extinguished the bulk of the fire and put out hot spots.

Deputies closed Doniphan Drive between Spur 16 and Talbot Road well into the rush hour, and volunteers from the American Red Cross of El Paso also responded to provide care to firefighters and others in need of assistance.